Dunedin

Sunset over St. Clair Beach

Well we arrived in Dunedin about a month ago. We have all found some great part time work, and a house to rent. We are getting into the swing of things, and really beginning to feel like we live in New Zealand. Our house is great and has beautiful views of the Pacific and the city. We are a hop, skip, and a jump away from our jobs- and just a short drive to beautiful beaches, and amazing hikes. We are all doing really well and are happy to be settled for awhile. Below are some photos we have taken from the various places we like to go around Dunedin.

Natalie jumping from a sand dune on St. Kilda Beach

Johnny doing the same jump. Bobby did it too, but Natalie was too slow taking the picture.

These are some sweet trees all over the place on the drive up the Otago Peninsula.

Migrating South

Johnny and Meagan next to one of Wellington's monuments

Natalie and I at another monument
An another ...
Johnny and I walkin the Plank (In the summer kids use this as a divingboard)

As winter came to a close and spring arrived. The four of us decided it was time to begin our migration south for summer. After Napier we made our way to Wellington which is the capital of New Zealand. Wellington was sweet it reminded us of San Francisco. There were lots of historical landmarks and cool monuments. We decided to check out this huge Museum that tells a lot about New Zealand’s heritage and had sweet displays of the native animals and of the Maori people. After that we needed to give our brains a rest so we went to see a movie, which was our first in a couple of months. It was great. We then drove Jordan (our car) onto the Ferry which Meagan had informed us would take 30 minutes to get to the South Island. 4 ½ hrs later we arrived on the South Island. We decided to push through and try and make it to our destination which was Kikoura. While driving through the sudden storm we swerved to miss ….a Seal!!! Yes, sitting in the middle of the road was a huge Seal. We all couldn’t believe it. We finally made it to our destination safely and met a really cool Irish couple at our hostel. The next morning we headed to Christchurch and spent the night there. We thought we might plant ourselves there, but Christchurch did not meet our expectations. So we headed for Dunedin which is further south and on the east coast. I’ll write more about Dunedin and our Job situation on our next blog.

Just like the Seal we saw in the middle of the road

Tour de Napier

Definition of Style

Not as easy as it looks :)
Brookfields Vineyard (Our Favorite)
Vines at Mission Vineyard

After Rotorua we went to Napier (Hawks Bay region) which is known for its wine vineyards. Napier was also very beautiful. We wanted to get jobs at some local vineyards, but the timing was not quite ripe…I mean right;) We decided to go on a wine tour instead. Of course we wanted to go in style, so we chose to rent tandem bikes and wear classy helmets while we went from vineyard to vineyard learning about the wine making process. We had so much fun. We went to four different vineyards: Brookfields, Church Hill, Mission, and the fourth one I don't remember(not because of the wine, because of my bad memory:). All in all we rode 20 miles by the end of the day.

Zorbing in Rotorua

Before the Madness

After the Madness

When we arrived in Rotorua we were taken back by the horrible stench of sulphur in the air. Actually, I think Natalie kind of liked it, strange. Rotorua is a very thermal city, full of hot springs, volcanoes, and zorbing! Zorbing is a hilarious extreme activity native to New Zealand and we all have been looking forward to trying it since we arrived. The best way to picture it is to imagine a giant inflatable hamster ball with a second smaller ball inside- or just check out the pictures. We arrived in Rotoroa with Zorbing in mind. We made our way to the Zorbing hill and changed into our swimsuits and shorts. Natalie and I decided to Zorb together. We were driven up the hill, we hopped inside the tiny little opening in the side of the Zorb ball, they shot a few inches of water in it with us (warm water since we weren't from Australia or Auckland)..and we were off!....tumbling and laughing our faces off! WE WERE LAUGHING SO HARD! The whole process was quite amusing and a complete blast. The video doesn’t make it look that exciting, but on the inside we were spinning around, rolling on each other and crashing into the rubbery walls of the Zorb. It was like a crazy water ride. Watch Natalie trip right when we get out of the Zorb, she was pretty dizzy. It was funny. (video's below)